i've had the friendly neighborhood psychic (not this one) tucked away in the back of my mind ever since i discovered her on my birthday last year; really, what could be more painless than ducking out to see her on my lunch break? today was my very last chance to do so (list ends tomorrow!), so i headed over at about noon - and immediately chickened out. what if someone from the ladymag saw me going in? a psychic's parlor isn't as bad as a sex shop or, i don't know, a liposuction van, but i'm already the office eccentric; i don't need to make things worse. i also didn't have exactly $10 and didn't fancy the awkwardness of trying to figure out whether or not to tip. after much hemming and hawing and walking around the block, i buzzed - and got no response. the universe did not want me to see the mysterious mrs. king. i decided that if i was really meant to rock the ESP today, it would throw me another psychic. it did: this place materialized as i emerged from a thrift store with a sweet $5 candlestick. a good, lucky time to have my palm read (two annoying little boys who hovered outside muttering about wasting money notwithstanding). i toyed with taking off my wedding ring and, like, coating my hands with squid ink to confuse the reader, but decided to go in as i was and roll with what she told me. here, then, is what i learned.

- i will live to be 80 or 90, and my death will not be tragic.*

- i will write something important when i'm 40.

- joe is very stubborn. his way is the only way.

- joe is my soul mate.

- in two years, we will have two children.**

- i will get a promotion in august, but someone will try to block it.

- a 35-year-old man will try to make trouble in our marriage.***

- this will be the best year of my life.

- i will take a long voyage over the ocean.****

- there is a great deal of trouble on my left side.

- i have had my palm read before.*****

*thinking about that now, it's kind of insulting, no?

**i had to challenge this one; i told her i wasn't planning on having kids. she said i would realize that our relationship was just so wonderful that we had to have children.

***it's totally going to be someone from the darts team. they will steal joe! or maybe david blaine.

****hee. i followed up on this one, too: where? she didn't know.

*****i told her no, but she was right, if you count girl scout camp. no mention of life or love lines; i was simply told i was lazy (true).

still deciding, sara; i may initiate a bonus round to see how many more i can knock off before i turn 30 in october. how about you? yours wraps up like next week, yes?

tom, to be honest, i kind of figured the best year of my life (1999) was long gone, so - this would be good news? kids = cats is even better news, though; i quite like this household's size, to put it mildly.

yeah, next week. with no further items to be crossed off at this point, i'm contemplating a list that will probably be compiled sometime post-graduation. it's been interesting and challenging, to say the least, but some of the most interesting/difficult things i've done with my life aren't on the list at all, you know?

Bonus round! Is a must. Yay! Then we can give you a celebratory birthday/bonus-round deluxe waffle on the Lauren-Birthday/boy-aren't-we-all-hung-over-from-Jacobs-wedding brunch.

But, more to the point, I'm so excited you did this. I've always been super curious about NYC psychics and they've always freaked me out, so now I know someone who has done it. Hooray. Of course in other news, being the teenager I was, I did/ had Tarot cards read all the time. I stopped in collage, but was actually freakishly good at it. Too good, in fact, that's why I stopped.

i think the psychic thing was worth it (i was a little freaked out about it as well, so i feel like i took a wee phobia down) , though i should have let something other than location guide my pick; in my heart of hearts i wanted someone with fifty thousand earrings and hands that looked like talons. give me the cheese! on tarot, i finally gave my ratty old rider-waites away when we were in california last month. served me well, but like yours - too freaky.